Anushka Shahjahan – Indonesian men were among the most likely to admit to rape – up to 16.6 percent in some places – according to a UN study of six Asian countries published in the Lancet on Tuesday.
The study interviewed 10,178 men across nine locations in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka. A total of 2,535 men were interviewed in Jakarta, rural Java and Jayapura.
Jayapura (16.6 percent) and Jakarta (6.6 percent) ranked as two of the top three places in which men most frequently admitted to forcing sex on a woman, second only to Bougainville, Papua New Guinea (26.6 percent). Rural Java, at 4.3 percent, was on par with places in Asia.
The word "rape" was not used in the study's questionnaire; rather, interviewers asked men about specific acts, as well as how often and why they did them.
Three quarters of Indonesian men who admitted to rape of a non-partner said they did so because they wanted to and felt entitled to do so.
"Entertainment seeking" accounted for 55 percent of Indonesian men who admitted to raping a non-partner ("I wanted to have fun" or "I was bored"), while 30 percent cited reasons of "anger and punishment." Thirty five percent of Indonesian men who forced sex on woman did so after drinking.
The study was conducted in Indonesia by P4P, a group of UN agencies comprising UN Women, the UN Population Fund, UNDP and UN Volunteers.
It's the culture
Arimbi Heroepoetri, a member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said cultural ideologies in which wives are seen as possessions contribute to Indonesian men's sense of entitlement.
"The patriarchal perspective in Indonesia... is mixed with beliefs and culture, even religious traditions," she told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday
Arimbi said spousal rape was a major issue in the country, yet seldom brought to light. Laws and social mores only worsened the problem by neglecting it, she said.
"Spousal rape is not considered rape even by the wives themselves, because they believe that once a man marries, he has ownership of the wife and can do whatever he wants with her," she said.
"We've advocated for legislation to protect women against domestic violence. But the House of Representatives has refused to pass it."
National survey
No reliable data exists on the prevalence of violence against women in Indonesia; there has never been a valid national study to measure it.
While the 2006 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) included questions about violence, women were only interviewed in the presence of their husbands. The interviewers were mostly men with little additional training.
Unsurprisingly, it found the prevalence of violence against women in Indonesia at just 3 percent – significantly lower than neighbors in the Asia and Pacific region.
The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection has scheduled a national survey on violence against women for early 2014 that will use a well-regarded methodology.
The fate of the survey remains unclear, however, due to a budget shortfall in the Ministry. Papua problem The high prevalence of rape found in Jayapura and Papua New Guinea raises questions about a possible link to previous conflict in these areas.
But this link is unclear, the Lancet authors say, and may be more likely related to "aspects of culture related to sexual entitlement and sex relations" evidenced in reasons the interviewees' acknowledged by their own admission. The effect on women is clear, however, say those familiar with the problem.
"In Papua, aspects such as poverty and violence make women more vulnerable," Frederika Korain, a researcher on violence against women currently based in Jayapura told the Jakarta Globe. "Papuan people live in violence, so they think violence is the only way to solve problems."
'Tip of the iceberg'
Of the 400,939 rape cases reported in 2011 to Komnas Perempuan, 70,115 were committed by a close family member of the survivor, such as a spouse or guardian.
A 1984 law bans discrimination against women while a 2004 law criminalizes domestic violence. However, only 20 percent of the Indonesian men who admitted to raping a woman were arrested, and even fewer – 14 percent – were sent to prison, according to the UN study.
"The number of cases people put forward to the police is very low," Frederika said.
The social stigma of being a rape survivor and the community's tacit condonement of the justification for sexual assault have also hamper law enforcement.
M asruchah, the deputy chairwoman of Komnas Perempuan, said Indonesian women perceive it to be a personal matter. "Many victims choose not to report because of family pressure, and sometimes because communities put the blame on them," she said.
"Police often have to release perpetrators of sexual violence at the request of their wives and partners. Law enforcers also apply an outdated definition of rape requiring evidence such as blood and semen," she added.
The UN study said poverty was not a factor related to rape in the six Asian countries surveyed, but a personal history of victimization and alcohol misuse were.
Indonesian men, however, confounded the study's results. Compared with peers in other Asian countries, researchers found fewer concomitant factors linked to rape. Indonesian men were most likely to admit to rape if they also admitted to engaging a sex worker (67 percent). Other factors included involvement in gangs, fights with weapons and alcohol abuse.
The Lancet study's authors say childhood and adolescent intervention is essential. The majority of men surveyed, said they first raped when they were between 15 and 19 years old.
Arimbi said a key step forward was to get the issue into the public consciousness by discussing it, rather than sweeping it under the rug.
"We now need to move toward a culture of preventing the perpetration of rape from ever occurring, rather than relying on prevention through responses."
[Additional reporting from IRIN.]